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leadnow.ca Calls Canadians to Defend a Woman's Right to Choose

Thursday, September 20, 2012

(La version française suit.)This week our MPs are back in Ottawa, and already we’re being called to defend our rights. In just 48 hours, our MPs will vote on a Conservative motion that the Canadian Medical Association, representing 70,000 doctors, is calling a backdoor attempt to criminalize abortion.[1,2]

This issue was settled decades ago. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled to protect a woman’s fundamental right to choose in Canadian law. But this week, Parliament will be debating a motion that would threaten our reproductive rights - and the rights of our friends, daughters, mothers, sisters, and partners.[3-5]

Prime Minister Harper has chosen to allow this motion to go forward to a free vote in Parliament, so every MP must decide whether or not they will stand up for the rights that women and our allies have been fighting to protect for decades.

Twenty-four years ago, the Supreme Court ruling clearly stated that governments in a democratic society must never interfere with a woman’s right to choose: “The decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is essentially a moral decision and in a free and democratic society the conscience of the individual must be paramount to that of the state.”[3]

The motion seeks to undermine the Supreme Court’s ruling by reopening the debate on the legal definition of a human being under the Criminal Code. High-profile members of Harper’s caucus have stated that the real goal of the motion is to attack women’s rights:

"The ultimate intention of this motion is to restrict abortions at some development stage in Canada." - Conservative Party whip, Gordon O'Connor.[6]

This tactic has been used in the United States in a slow and relentless campaign to criminalize women’s reproductive rights and fan the flames of their culture war. Prime Minister Harper has publicly stated that he does not want to reopen this debate. Yet, while he exerts complete control over his own party, he has still chosen to let this covert attack on women’s rights go to a free vote that will test how Canadians react and open the door to attempts to criminalize abortion.

Canadian history is filled with proud struggles to recognize and secure our rights in the face of stiff opposition. Now, our government is targeting the hard-won rights of many groups - from the free speech rights of Canada’s charities to worker’s rights - and we need to show that we will defend each other against this creeping erosion of our human and democratic rights.

P.S. Motion-312 puts Canadian women’s reproductive rights at risk, and the final debate in parliament is this Friday - please sign now, and forward this message far and wide so we can reach as many Canadians as possible: http://www.leadnow.ca/defend-our-reproductive-rights

P.P.S. Thanks to everyone who participated in Leadnow’s Summer Gatherings! We’ll be sending a report back soon and asking for your feedback to support the pro-democracy movement Canada needs.